Thanksgiving Dinner

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner can take a lot of work, even more so for a person with arthritis. Preparing a whole Thanksgiving dinner can seem hopeless to some with arthritis, because it can be difficult to get everything done in time and still have time to rest your aching joints. So my tip this week is something we do in my own family to make it less stressful. Sit down and write out your menu, then assign one food item to each guest to bring. Such as, maybe have one guest bring a pumpkin pie and have another bring a green bean casserole. Or you can even talk to each of your guests and just let them tell you what they would like to bring. That way all you have to worry about is the turkey and the little things.

Catering

If you find it to overwelming to prepare the whole Christmas meal, consider having someone cater it for you. Of course if you want to make your own turkey, you still can and just have them provide the veggies, desserts and rest of the meal. This will save you the time and stress.

Decorating With Children

Decorating your house is a big part of many families Christmas traditions. For people with arthritis it can be difficult to reach up and hang things, for instance. If you have children consider letting them do the biggest part of the decorating, with parent supervision of course. Children love to do stuff like that.

Handing Candy Out

If you enjoy handing candy out to trick-or-treaters, but it´s hard for you to stand at the door to do it, consider sitting in a chair at your front door or on your porch and hand the candy out from sitting down. It will save your joints the stress of standing for long periods of time.

Shopping Online

Christmas shopping can be a real stressful time for people with arthritis. If you can´t handle all the walking and waiting in long checkout lines at the stores, consider doing your Christmas shopping online. Nowadays you can find just about anything online, so start shopping from the convenience of your own home without all the hustles of the big stores during the holiday season. Even if you don´t have a credit card, there are still a lot of sites that will let you pay by check/money order, such as the Amazon.com. So go check it out today.

Wrapping At Stores

If it is hard for you to wrap your gifts, because of arthritis in your hands, consider letting the stores do it for you. Most larger stores have the option of getting the gift wrapped when you buy it.

Gift Bags Instead Of Wrapping

If you have arthritis in your hands it can be difficult to wrap your Christmas gifts. Consider buying gift bags with tissue paper instead. This is much easier on your hands, because all you have to do is put your gift in the gift bag with tissue paper and it´s ready to go.

Christmas Dinner

If you are having your big Christmas dinner at your house, it can be overwelming to have to prepare the whole meal, even more so when you have arthritis. If you have a big family consider dividing the meal into groups, like veggies, desserts, appetizers, etc. Then have each guest bring a few dishes in that category to represent their family.

Trick-Or-Treating

It can be difficult if you have younger children to take them trick-or-treating, because of all the walking involved. Consider having another family member or maybe even hire an older teenager to take them, to save you the stress on your joints.